Exploring Teacher Intervention in the Intersection of Digital Resources, Peer Collaboration, and Instructional Design

Abstract

This paper reports on a case study of the teacher's role as facilitator in computer‐supported collaborative learning (CSCL) settings in science. In naturalistic classroom settings, the teacher most often acts as an important resource and provides various forms of guidance during students’ learning activities. Few studies, however, have focused on the role of teacher intervention in CSCL settings. By analyzing the interactions between secondary school students and their teacher during a science project, the current study provides insight into the concerns that teachers might encounter when facilitating students’ learning processes in these types of settings. The analyses show that one main concern was creating a balance between providing the requested information and supporting students in utilizing each other's knowledge and understanding. Another concern was balancing support on an individual versus group level, and a third concern was directing the students’ attention to coexisting conceptual perspectives. Most importantly, however, the analyses show how teacher intervention constitutes the pivotal “glue” that aids students in linking and using coexisting aspects of support such as peer collaboration, digital tools, and instructional design.

Teacher support in computer-supported lab work: bridging the gap between lab experiments and students’ conceptual understanding

“…However, research on students' learning in lab-work settings, including computer-supported lab settings, have shown that linking the practical lab work to a conceptual understanding of the underlying scientific principles and procedures is challenging for students (van Joolingen et al 2007;Lunetta et al 2007;Renken and Nunez 2013). Studies focusing on teacher support in computer-supported settings have shown that such support is pivotal (Gillen et al 2008;Strømme and Furberg 2015). The empirical findings of the current study are in line with and supplement findings from previous research showing that students struggle to link their experiences with practical lab work to an understanding of scientific principles, concepts and procedures.…”

“…Other studies have focused on the role of student-teacher interactions during inquiry-related group work in CSCL settings (Jornet and Roth 2015;Strømme and Furberg 2015). For instance, analyses of student-teacher interactions in an inquiry project about heat loss and emission of modern houses showed that the teacher-student interactions became important resources for the students to understand and take advantage of co-existing support features made available to them within the instructional setting.…”

“…For instance, analyses of student-teacher interactions in an inquiry project about heat loss and emission of modern houses showed that the teacher-student interactions became important resources for the students to understand and take advantage of co-existing support features made available to them within the instructional setting. In other words, the teacher became the pivotal Bglue^that aided students in linking and using coexisting aspects of support such as peer collaboration, digital tools, and instructional design (Strømme and Furberg 2015).…”

“…Making sense of scientific concepts is a dialogical matter that takes place among interacting participants in specific settings, including helpseeking settings in which students interact with teachers (Strømme and Furberg 2015).…”

“…In educational settings, students perceive the teacher as an Bexpert^within specific knowledge domains and the main mediator of valid ways of discussing scientific concepts. The teacher is also a facilitator of prevailing valid methods of understanding assignments and solving assignments in a satisfactory manner (Jornet and Roth 2015;Strømme and Furberg 2015). Ultimately, the teacher assesses students' performances-a role of which students are very aware.…”